Radiotherapy Begins (by sarah)

Mum's radiotherapy started on Thursday, I went to see her on Saturday which was the first bad day for her, the pain from the radiotherapy which is being done from an angle from her back to incorperate her lung just incase, had kept her up all night. She obviously is very tired and that is due to get worse, she will be going everyday for about six weeks. I'll keep you all posted as to how she is doing.

Dyslexics and Business (by sarah)

Barbara (Als Aunt) showed me an article that she thought might interest me from the Financial Times it was basically about people pushing their children to succeed and giving two year olds after nursery classes and stuff. It generally made me feel really sorry for the kids - then it went onto how one thing thats seen as a major handicap at school appears to give the suffers a head start in the 'adult world' ie dyslexics appear to make good business people (I would have written ontrapaner but I funnily enough cant spell it and I'm pretty sure it begins with e - oh well).

According to the article about 30 % of people with successful businesses would describ themselves as dyslexic (not sure what the result would be if they tested them all but it might be interesting). The thing is people seem so suprised by this when really what else is going to happen to someone who is generally above average intelligence but who is unlickely to get far or even get (due to application forms and tests etc...) a normal job?

The options are start your own business, become a criminal or both. I'm not being mean here about the criminal stuff studies showed in the early nineties (I think do your own research) that alot of those in prison for organised crime where showing dyslexic, ADHD or dyspastic tendencies - at the time I was really worried about this as I wondered if it ment I'd end up a criminal - organising crimes takes brains as does running a business.

The other thing with trouble shooting and finding new ways of doing things is that lots of dyslexics have to do this in their every day life - ALL THE TIME. We dictate rather than write things down oursleves, we colour code things in order to remeber what we are doing etc... this skills are exactly what you need to start a business (ok well perhapse not the colour coding but hey it still gets used alot). And hiding the fact you have difficulty with spelling etc... becomes a new and powerful tool when turned to marketing.

What I'd like to see is how large the data set was for these results and what exactly was asked - also does it tally cross culterally or is it limited to say the USA and the UK? The other intreging thing I noted was that the two men they had interviewed both had alot of children - 6 and 9 each - did the writter of the artical do that on perpose and if not do sucessful dyslexics have a tendency to have large familys in a society where successful people have fewer children normally?

The Royal Astronomical Society (by sarah)

Yesturday I went into the Royal Astronomical Society for the fisrt time though I had attended their talks before they had always been in the Geology building instead so of course that is where me an Becca initially went! Where we signed in and where we helped ourselves to coffee and buscuits - it was off course the wronge place which resulted in us having to rescue our bags and coats from the lecture theatre that was holding another set of talks by the RAS! Very embarrassing but as most of the poeple giving the talks had made the same mistake we didnt feel too bad.

Still it ment I got to see one of my favourite rooms again - there is just something about old libaries with their polished wooden book cases and wrought iron spiral stair cases that makes me drool (obviously not onto the books). The change of building however was not a bad thing as I discoved the RAS have fantastic pictures of nebulea and the like that wizz past the clear glass sides of their lift - yes I'm afraid we went and got coffee and buscuits there too - well we couldnt pass up free food and drink could we?

There was also a fantastic glass window which I fell in love with. I have never seen glass in a window done like this it had the glass textured into a swerl that was coloured sutley with pastel pinks and greens with geometic shapes frosted in - I didnt get to have a proper look at it unfortunatly - hopefully there will be a next time 🙂 Scientific and buetiful stained glass windows - it has me thinking again I'm afraid. One of the things I want to do when I have the time and the money is too learn how to do stained glass and maybe even glass blowing though I am a bit scared of that! I would like to put a stained glass window in the bathroom showinng a boat and a light house you see. But I was also thinking that maybe something on the doors at the end of Als office might look nice but I couldn't think what now my mind is a buzz with designs and seeing that window has shown me that glass pictures do not have to bee restricted to stain glass in the traditional bounded with leading type.

The girls toliets where something to behold as well with lots of purple and cascading taps!

I met up with a few of the people from the Natural History Museum and am happy becuase they say I can go back to the meteorites and to just tell them when I want to 🙂 I also bumped into one of my lecturess from Imperial as she was giving a talk on Chixulub.

The talks where on Impact-Driven Changes in the Solar System which of course included lots of sdtrobiology stuff - for those of you who don't know when I grow up I want to be an astrobiologist! There was stuff on mass extinctions, there was stuff on marine impacts, there was of course Charles Cockell who works on the microbial organisms in impact rocks (he's one of the people that helped me design my project for the MRes - the thing that had to go on hold becuase of how ill I was during the pregnancy). There was also stuff on using computer modiles to see what effect Jupiter has on asteriods and comets and weather or not it does act as a sheild to the Earth - I spoke to the PhD student who was working on this project which was great - well in fact he came to the pub with us as he was one of Beccas friends. I did unfortunatly keep asking him what where probably thinck questions ie when you say you changed the mass of jupiter in the modile do you mean you changed its volume as well or do you mean you changed its density? I had alot of these questions.

There was one interesting project that was trying to see what effect impacts had on various comet structures - this involved making balls of ice and then hitting them with projectiles from a gas gun - I like gas guns and have infact designed my series of experiments I would do with one of them - I might even have (with Alarics help|) designed my own version of a gas gun which I think is probably OTT.

There was even a talk on the contraversial Silver Pit impact structure out in the North Sea - I have to say I am not convinced too me it looked like circular fualting from an upwelling diaper (dome of salt or lower density material that pushes its way up a sort of giant flame structure like you get when sand is laid down over mud) that had then escaped. But there where spiral fualts down into the basin and I dont known anything about how they would form so I'm still giving it a chance even though it is lacking gravity anomalies etc....

There was even a talk on why certain comets have been flaring (suddenly appearing bright) and wheather or not this is due to impacts onto them or the sun melting bits of them and volitile gasses escaping from reservoirs just under the surface. I struggeled most with the talks on the comets but emensly enjoyed them and am thinking I want to find out more about comets now 🙂

It was very interesting and I'm slightly releived as I had worried that becuase I hadnt been to anything for almost three years I wasnt going to be able to understand half of it I was pleasantly suprised that the only ones I struggeled with where the comets which I have never really looked at (bar hale bop which I saw through a telescope once).

After the talks (we didnt go to the AGM) we went to the pub and talked about many things including how to make chain mail 🙂 There were three birthdays including mine 🙂

To celbrate we went to a Japanese place for dinner somewhere near Tottenham Court Road - I had a vegitable Bento which was really reallly nice 🙂 Though I avoided the green stuff I once mistook for gualcamole :/

I really enjoyed the day but have left my self with a sad ache over academia - I really really miss my rocks the fact that they where sky rocks or rocks that had been smashed up by sky rocks makes it even worse for me. I feel that due to the funding cuts in this sector I may well have missed my chance to be part of this world but I think I am going to try anyway.

Birthday Party at our London Pad (by sarah)

I decided to have a birthday party in london a week early as my birthday coincides with the start of mums treatment. Here are the photos of the event - also apologies to non face book people who I had initial forgotten to invite as I'm stupid!

Of course there was food.

And the inflatibles had to come out didnt they 🙂

A party full of geeks in an office full of electrical and pooter bits is a dangerous dangerous thing.

Tish turned up looking very much like he has just stepped off of the set of friends - I think he really looks like Ross in this picture - yes i can be mean sometimes.

Still he arrived with 'Uncle' Ben (the guy who cuaght my bouquay at the wedding) who he had randomly bumped into in the supermarket on route 🙂 this was a great suprise for me 🙂

My Brother found the romote control darleck and there was no stopping him I'm afraid but then he is forgiven as he turned up with a rainbow coloured coat with fleece lining. Charlee has the exact same one and her work colleges have pationed to prevent her wearing it to work as its too distracting apparently!

rudolf was still around but a bit legless after the holiday (in that he'd started to deflate!) I got an action shot of him here moving in on Robs food!

Clare turned up with curly hair so I had to take a photo - the party had been going for about ten hours by this point :/

At some point we decided to go next door and watch room 1408 which was fun as it lead us to telling ghost stories until about 3:30 in the morning - the party had started at 11 am - it was fun but as with all things there is a price and in this case it was three sides of washing up without a sishwasher followed by packing up, followed by the trip to Essex to get Jean from the dotting grandperants and then the trip home - with side tour to Heathrow Airport.

Thanks everyone who came 🙂

Cute Christmas Pics of Jean (by sarah)

Jean loved Christmas it was full of wonderous new things - here are pictures of her during the holidays or just after playing with presants - this first one shows that money can't buy happiness as Jean played for hours with a server box that was at the office - she really liked the bit of cardboard that went in the top with foamy bits to protect the server - she thought this was the best thing ever!

The day we were first in Highgate Jean helped me decorate the office - this mainly involved her running around with the tinsel - we made up several games from doing swerly dances with it as if the tinsel were chinese ribbons to making a regal wrap out of it and pretending to be royality, to making a volcano out of it, or simple running her fingers over it saying - Pretty Mummy Pretty!

We have an inflatible reindeer which Jean had the previous Christmass fed with special oats and glitter - here are the photos of this years interactions with it - at first she was a bit scared of it but soon got to the point of trying to jump on the poor things back - something Alaric had to help her with.

Jean adores hats and as a result stole and put on just about any hat she could get hold off - Clare guard your trillbee! She has also taken to calling my Dad Hat Man which is what Alaric calls him as he is always wearing a hat of some kind! She still calls him ferfer too though.

The obsession with planes continues and she now has a giant play mobile plane complete with toliet!

Jean unlike most people likes my christmas clock - Tick toc rouw rouw! Snowman! - and even dances to the five minutes of christmas carols it plays every hour on the hour. She did this with much exclaimations of Pretty Lights Mummy!

Our main presant to her this year was a brightly coloured trike that one of the ladys from my writing class gave me - she loves it though we have had a few issues with her knocking the thing over trying to get on or off of it and traping herself under it as a result! She is also still too little to peddle it her self really. Still she likes putting sticks in its trailer which has made Barbara very happy indeed.

One of Jeans presants was a pink hearts cream tea set which she has proceeded to make people have cups of tea from - her teddy's are the main suffers of this new obsession though I have to confess the 'table cloth' was my idea and is in fact her blanket straight from her cot!